The pill indeed can stop periods

By CAROL SMITH, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Updated 9:00 pm, Wednesday, April 2, 2003

They don't call it "the curse" for nothing.

Periods may be many things for many women, but for some, they are a hassle. Now research published this month in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology confirms what many women have privately known for years -- continuous use of birth control pills can eliminate periods altogether.

She followed 79 women who were randomly assigned either to take oral contraceptives continuously, or on the regular 21-days-on, seven-days-off cycle that is typically prescribed. The study used low-dose combination estrogen pills.

"By a year, 90 percent of women on the continuous schedule had no bleeding," Miller said.

By six months, nearly 70 percent had achieved that state.

"It's just nice. You don't have to worry if you're going out of town for the weekend," said Heidi Materi, 25, who participated in the study. "It's just one less thing to worry about."

Miller, who has been studying continuous-use birth control since 1997, estimated that 30 percent of her patients ask on their own for continuous pills so they can skip their periods. So far, though, the approach has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and patients have had to cobble together continuous supplies by going to the pharmacy every three weeks for fresh packs.

That got Miller to wondering: "Why do pills have to come in (21-day) packs? Why can't they come in a bottle?"

Miller isn't the only one seeing interest in skipping periods.

"We advise it," said Dr. Ruth Krauss, chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Group Health Cooperative in Seattle, who was not involved in the study.

"It can be very helpful, for convenience and for treatment of conditions, such as endometriosis or painful periods."

Anecdotal evidence to date suggests the approach does not affect fertility, although that has not been formally studied.

The approach also appears to be safe, Miller said.

Some critics have said the lack of bleeding is "unnatural," she said. But the reality is that women are menstruating earlier and bearing fewer children, so women today typically have many more periods than did women generations ago.

Research suggests this increase in the number of periods is related to increased risk of certain cancers.

In that sense, eliminating the constant build-up and sloughing of the endometrial lining could help reduce the risk of cancer, Miller said. "Suppression of menstrual cycles is a modern solution to a modern lifestyle."